Shredding and shelled grain saving attachment for corn harvesters



June 8, 1948. A. E. w. JOHNSON I 2,443,039

SHREDDING AND SHELLED GRAIN SAVING ATTACHMENT FDR CORN HARVESTERS FiledMarch 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 8, 1948- A. E. w. JOHNSON.SHREDDING AND SHELLED GRAIN SAVING ATTACHMENT FOR CORN HARVESTERS FiledMarch 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented (June 8, i948 SHREDDING SHELLEDGRAIN SAVING ATTACHMENT FOR CORN HARVESTERS Arnold E. W. Johnson, OakPark, Ill., assignor to International Harvester Company, a corporationof New Jersey Application March 19, 1945, Serial No. 583,420

Claims. l

This invention relates to a corn harvester. More specifically, itrelates to a stalk-shreddin and shelled-grain-recovery attachment for acorn harvester. As one method of harvestin corn, it has been proposed tosever the stalks by a traveling machine to convey the stalks to asnapping means and to husk the snapped ears. Such a method of harvestingmaybe accomplished by a machine such as shown in the Mc- Inturf PatentNo. 879,404. The structure disclosed in this patent shows means forsevering the stalks and delivering them heads first to snapping means,from which the stalks are delivered back onto the ground. In thisharvesting method a substantial portion of the shelled grain lost by theconventional inclined-roll type of picker, in which the stalks remainstanding in the field, is recovered. It has been found, however, thatwhen the ears are snapped from the stalks the husks are often removedtherewith and the snapping rolls engage the butt end of the ears in sucha manner as to shell substantial amounts of corn therefrom, said shelledcorn being retained in the husks which pass through the snapping rolls.For corn borer control and for other reasons, it has also been founddesirable to shred the stalks which are delivered from the snappingrolls of a machine, as shown in the McInturi patent.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improvedshredding attachment for stalk-severing types of corn harvesters.

Another principal object is to provide an efiectlve grain-recovery meanswith simple structure for receiving grain from a stalk-treating meansand delivering the grain to a suitable receptacle.

The above objects and others which will be apparent from the descriptionto follow are accomplished by a cylinder and concave structure withgrain receiving and conveying means therebeneath, as illustrated in thedrawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating theattachment-of the invention as incorporated in a cut-ofi type of cornharvester;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the housing structure for thesnapping and husking rolls of the harvester shown in Figure 1 with thegrain conveying mechanism mounted in cooperation therewith;

Figure 3 is a section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

In the drawings, particularly in Figure 1, the outline has been shown ofan entire machine of the traveling type adapted to gather standing'trated.

stalks, sever the stalks, convey them rearwardly in a substantiallyhorizontal position, snap the ears therefrom, shred the stalks, husk theears, and deliver the husked ears together with grain recovered from theshredding mechanism to an elevator. Such a machine may be on ahorsedrawn frame structure or may be mounted in any suitable manner on atractor. The copending application Serial No. 500,487, filed August 30,1943, which became Patent No. 2,427,861 on September 23, 1947, disclosesand claims specific features of a stalk-gathering, cutting, andconveying mechanism as illustrated diagrammatically in the drawings ofthis application. As it is necessary to illustrate and describestructure necessary to provide a background for the disclosure of thisinvention, certain housing structures have been indicated in outline andcertain mechanisms have been diagrammatically illus- In a stalk-severingcorn harvester of this type, the entire structure is built around arelatively narrow, longitudinally extending housing, which will bedesignated in its entirety by the reference character it. At the forwardend of said housing, the stalk-gathering points or shoes ii and 12 areillustrated as being attached to the side portions l3 and M of athroat-forming structure into which the stalks pass during travel of themachine. The stalks are fed into the throat by conveyor chains l5 and i6mounted in the side portions of the throat. At the rear end of thethroat guides l7 and 18 are shown for feeding stalks into areciprocating cutter including a conventional sickle element l8. Thesevered stalks are carried rearwardly by the conveyor chains and areengaged by a horizontal conveyor it extending across the width of thecenter portion of the housing ill. The rear end of said conveyor isshown in Figure 3 on a larger scale. It is to be understood that theforward portion of the machine is not a significant part of theinvention as its specific structure is disclosed and claimed in theidentified pending application. The stalks delivered horizontally by thechain is longitudinally of the housing i6 reach the rear end portion ofthe machine where they are fed between a lower snapping roller 2d and anupper snapping roller 2!. Said rollers may be mounted on the side wallsof the housing in any suitable bearing structures and may be driven byany conventional mechanism such as commonly used on corn pickers andharvesters. The rolls are rotatable in the direction indicated by thearrows in Figure 3 whereby the stalks are fed therebetween in a rearwarddirection, the

' 3 ears being snapped from the stalks wherebythey drop downwardlytransversely to the housing II. A husker unit designated in its entiretyby the reference character 22 is mounted beneath the housing llimmediately forward of the snapping rolls 20 and 2|. Said husking unitincludes a front side wall 23, a rear side wall 24, and a flared wallhopper 25 extending along the upper part of the husking unit forreceiving ears snapped from the rolls 20 and 2|. The husking unit alsoincludes conventional husking rolls 26 and 21 and an ear-forwardingchain 28. Said forwarding chain engages the ears below the Y snappingrolls and moves them laterally along the husking rolls where the husksare removed therefrom. The ears are delivered into an enclosed elevatorhopper 29 at the end of the husking unit opposite the snapping rolls.Said ears are then received by an elevator 30 and delivered upwardly toa trailing wagon or other receiving means.

- An auger conveyor I is illustrated below the husking rolls 28 and 21for moving the husks laterally with respect to the husking rolls, Aperforated bottom or grid 32 beneath the auger 3| allows the shelledgrain to pass therethrough into a receiving chamber 33. Said grain isthen delivered by an auger 34 into the elevator hopper 29 along with thehusked ears.

Up to this point in the description, the mechanism described is initself not comprehensive of the present invention and discloses only thestructure necessary to provide a working environment of the structure ofthe invention.

The housing l O extends rearwardly beyond the snapping rolls 20- and 2|.into a hood portion 35. Said portion provides means for receiving thestalks from the snapping rolls 20 and 2i and delivering them rearwardly.It will be noted that a battle wall 36 is illustrated in dotted lines inFigure 3 for assuring delivery of the stalks to the snapping rolls 20and 2|. As the stalks emerge rearwardly from said snapping rolls, theyare engaged by a cylinder or beater 31. Said beater is similar to athreshing cylinder except that the teeth are larger and spacedcircumferentially a greater distance. The stalks and husks engaged bysaid beater when rotated in the direc tion indicated by the arrow aredragged over a concave structure 38 including a plurality of spacedelements 39. The stalks may be shredded to any degree desired and thehusks and stalks are thoroughly shaken to remove the shelled grainstherefrom. Any type of rotating beater may be employed having anyconventional type of fixed or freely pivoted teeth such asconventionally used in hammer mills and the like. The shredded ormacerated stalks are delivered rearwardly from the beater 31 to a secondbeater 40 which has a plurality of elements 4i arranged around theperiphery thereof for engaging and moving rearwardly the stalks andother material. A plurality of spaced, springlike rods 42, as indicatedby the broken-away portion of Figure 1, provide a grid structure forfurther allowing the escape of grain and other small particles from thestalks, husks, and other material passing through the beater.

The beater 40 acts to discharge all material delivered theretorearwardly and out through the open bottom portion 43 of the hood 35. Aninclined wall 44, extending from side to side of the hood 35 forwardlyand downwardly from the open end portion 43, provides a receiving floorfor the grain and other material discharged by the beaten; through thegridded openings therebeneath. A forward wall 45 extending rearwardlyand downwardly cooperates with the floor 44 to provide a confining meansfor material discharged from the shredding and beating mechanism. Theadjoining portions of the walls 44 and 45 are formed as a cylinder toreceive the bottom portion of an auger conveyor 48. Said conveyor, asbest shown in Figure 1, projects laterally into and through acylindrical housing 41 which projects laterally a substantial distancefrom the housing l0. At its outer end the housing 41 is provided with acurved discharge conduit 48. Said conduit extends upwardly and over thereceiving hopper 25 of the husking unit, being provided with a large,downwardly facing opening substantially the full width of said hopper.The auger 46 is provided with radial blades 49 of a length equivalent tothe width of the discharge conduit 48. The auger is normally driven at aspeed sufficient to act as a thrower with the blades throwing the graininto the conduit 48 whereby the grain is delivered by said conduitdownwardly into the husking unit, whereby the grain falls through thehusking rolls and is recovered by the grain-saving means of the huskingunit.

A fan housing 50 is shown as being mounted at the elevator end of thehusking unit. Said fan contains a rotor mounted on a shaft 5| andadapted to be driven for discharging air from an outlet nozzle oropening 52 on the fan housing in the location indicated by the arrows inFigure 2. This is a conventional construction and is utilized foreliminating weeds, trash, husks, pieces of stalks and other extraneousmaterial from the ears which are delivered to the huskin unit. In theconstruction of this invention said fan has another novel function. Itwill be noted that the air blast from the fan passes beneath thedischarge opening of the grain delivery conduit 48 whereby the foreignmaterial received from the shredding device is eliminated and only theheavier grains dropped down into the husking unit.

Certain chains have been illustrated in Figure 1 as indicating some ofthe drive construction. A chain 53 is shown connecting one of thesnapping rolls with the drive shaft 54 for the shredder or beater unit31. A chain 55 has also been indicated as connecting the said shaft 54with a driving sprocket 56 mounted on the beater element 4|. It is to beunderstood that power from a suitable source may be applied by anyconventional means to the moving elements of the device as described.

Applicant has shown only a preferred embodiment of his shredding andgrain-saving attachment for corn harvesters. It is to be understood thatit is the intention to limit the invention only to the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shredding and shelled grain saving attachment for cut-off type cornpickers comprising in combination with transverse horizontal snappingrolls, means for feeding stalks in a substantially horizontal positionlongitudinally through said rolls, receiving means for the snapped ears,a stalk shredding mechanism mounted at the rear of said snapping rolls,said mechanism including a grid structure through which shelled grain isdelivered during operation of the shredder, means for receiving saidshelled grain and other material passing through the grid, auger meansfor transmitting said material laterally beyond the snapping rolls,saidauger means inthrough said rolls, transverse husking rolls arrangedforwardly of and below said snapping rolls, a stalk shredding mechanismmounted at the rear of said snapping rolls, said mechanism including agrid structure through which shelled grain is delivered during operationof the shredder, means for receiving said shelled grain and othermaterial passing through the grid, auger means for transmitting saidmaterial laterally beyond the snapping rolls, said auger means includingimpeller means for throwing the material being fed thereto in a radialdirection, and deflector means surrounding the impeller portion of saidmeans arranged to deflect the material thrown thereagainst to thehusking rolls.

3. A shredding and shelled grain saving attachment for a stalk-severingtype corn picker comprising in combination with snapping rolls, meansfor feeding stalks in a substantialy hori-- zontal positionlongitudinally through said rolls, husking rolls arranged forwardly ofand below said snapping rolls, means for 'creating a blast of air oversaid husking rolls, a stalk shredding mechanism mounted at the rear ofsaid snapping rolls, said mechanism including a grid structure throughwhich shelled grain and small pieces of other material are deliveredduring operation of the shredder, means for receiving said shelled grainand other material passing through the.

grid, means for transferring said material to a receiving means, saidmeans including means for delivering the material into the path of theair blast over the husking rolls whereby the pieces of stalks and otherforeign material are removed from the shelled grain.

4. A shredding and shelled grain saving attachment for a stalk-severingtype com picker comprising in combination with transverse horizontalsnapping rolls, means for feeding stalks in a substantially horizontalposition longitudinally through said rolls, transverse husking rollsarranged forwardly of and below said snapping rolls, means for creatinga blast of air over said husking rolls, a stalk shredding mechanismmounted at the rear of said snapping rolls, said mechanism including agrid structure through which shelled grain and small pieces of othermaterial are delivered during operation of the shredder, means forreceiving said shelled grain and other material passing through thegrid, auger means for transferring said material laterally beyond thesnapping rolls, said auger means including impeller means for throwingthe material being fed thereto in a radial direction, and deflectormeans surrounding the impeller portion of said means arranged to deflectthe material thrown thereagainst into the path of the air blast over thehusking rolls whereby the pieces of stalks and other foreign materialare removed from the shelled grain.

5. A shredding and shelled grain saving attachment for cut-off type cornpickers compris' ing in combination with snapping rolls, means forfeeding stalks through said rolls, husking rolls arranged forwardly ofand below said snapping rolls, a stalk shredding mechanism mounted atthe rear of said snapping rolls, said mechanism including a gridstructure through which shelled grain is delivered during operation ofthe shredder, means for receiving said shelled grain and other materialpassing through the grid, auger means for transmitting said materiallaterally beyond the snapping rolls, said auger means including impellermeans for throwing the material being fed thereto in a radial direction,

and deflector means surrounding the impeller portion of said meansarranged to deflect the material thrown thereagainst tothe huskingrolls.

ARNOLD E. W. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

